Myths associated with selecting nursing homes suggest quick and easy ways to identify quality care, but relying on these myths can lead to disastrous results. Here are five of the worst ways to select a nursing home.1. The Personal Recommendation:Last weekend Jim, a friend who had put his mother in a nursing home recommended by a friend, called me in a panic. Although his mother was recuperating from a stroke, no nurse or aide checked on her the night before. Jim discovered her in the morning with many cuts and bruises, her sheets soaked in blood.
"I can't believe anyone would recommend that nursing home," he complained. "My friend said her grandmother was in this particular nursing home, so, I thought it would be good care." "How often does your friend visit her grandmother?" I asked him. "I didn't think to ask." "And did you check the latest state survey for that nursing home?" "No," he answered. "I thought a personal recommendation was all I needed." Jim's mother is now back in an area hospital. No one knows if she'll recover.Use personal recommendations only as an addition to your own investigation.
Never decide on a nursing home based on a recommendation alone.2. The Smell Test:You've heard it repeatedly: "The best way to find out about the quality of a nursing home is to notice how it smells."It seldom, if ever, works. Why? Nursing homes have heard the same adage. They are keenly aware of unpleasant odors in areas that might receive visitors. Almost all do their best to remove offensive odors as quickly as possible, even if it means avoiding their primary responsibility to their residents.
3. You Get What You Pay For:Nowhere is this statement less applicable than in nursing home care. Replace it with another adage -- "Buyer Beware." Research from The Best Is Yet.Net, covering more than 6000 nursing homes and more than 100 assisted living facilities, shows no link between cost and quality of care. You may find quality care in an expensive facility, or you may not. Similarly, you may find quality care in an inexpensive facility, or you may not.
Relying on price as the sole indicator of quality care can result in disaster.4. Enough Staffing Equals Quality Care:A recent report from the Senate's Special Committee on Aging showed that satisfactory care for a single nursing home resident requires more than three hours every day of nursing and nursing aide time. However, statistical analysis of the latest federal database on nursing home deficiencies showed no link between deficiencies and staffing levels, a finding consistent with several university studies. What should you look for in nursing home staffing levels? Severely understaffed homes cannot provide quality care. Do not consider any home providing fewer than two hours of care daily for each resident.
In homes with enough staffing, focus on staff attitudes. Staff motivated to care for the elderly will do so. Staff motivated only by a paycheck will provide shoddy care regardless of their numbers. 5. A Well-Known Chain Will Provide the Best Care:Choosing care based on the name of the company can lead to tragedy.
Some well-known companies do provide quality care. Others, however, boast long records of legal troubles stemming from accusations of neglect and abuse. Several states' attorneys general have simultaneously sued one such company.How can you know which is which? The company is not likely to tell you, so research the company's history. There you have it ? five risky myths exploded! What does work? Your own investigation. With a little research and several personal visits to nursing homes before you sign anything, you can avoid many of the problems experienced by people who relied on such myths.**********************************************Read more.
"101 Ways to Spot a Bad Nursing Home" is included at no cost in our special bonus package, given to buyers of How to Find Great Senior Housing (2nd edition).
Learn more at our website:
http://www.thebestisyet.net.
An Insight Into Stammering
Stammering is a condition that affects around one in every hundred people in the UK. According to the latest reports on average three quarters of people who have a stammer are male. This article looks into the affects that stammering can have on a persons life and about possible solutions which can help people to achieve fluency.
In truth, I believe it is very hard for a fluent person to fully understand just how difficult life can be for people who stammer. They can of course imagine what it could be like but only a fellow sufferer or former sufferer can really know.
Using the telephone is one of the most difficult of daily tasks facing the stammerer, to such an extent many of them do whatever they can to avoid using it. Tasks which the average fluent person would consider very easy, like ordering a pizza can be very hard for people who stammer.
Answering the phone is no easier however the ever rising use of mobile phones has helped as they can now...
An Insight Into Stammering
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Virginia Beach, VA (ContentDesk) October 7, 2005 -- My Vitamin Guide (MVG), an online review of vitamins, supplements, herbal remedies and alternative medicine, announced today it has added an enhanced diabetes section to its website. Found online at www.MyVitaminGuide.com, MVG provides consumers free information on vitamins and supplements as well as resources, news, advice, and content from medical professionals on more than 650 health concerns and illnesses.MVG reports that ten nutritional supplements and herbs received its highest 3-star rating after a review of scientific tests showed a substantial health benefit for people with type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, six of these ten supplements and herbs received the same 3-star rating for use with type 1 diabetes. These ten supplements, listed on the website at www.MyVitaminGuide.com/public/641.cfm, include:"...
Diabetes Care Should Include Vitamins and Herbs, MyVitaminGuide.com Tells Diabetics
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All entities that process health care data must comply with HIPAA. Such entities mainly include healthcare providers and insurance companies. According to the provisions made under this Act, any entity that transmits or stores the private health care information of an individual must comply with certain security regulations.
To ensure smooth compliance with HIPAA, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has the authority to decide which particular codes should be used to identify administrative and medical expenses. This department, as a part of the compliance strategy, can create a safe identification system for clients, insurance carriers and health-care providers.
This ID system is a national system.
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Safety Advocate Applauds Government Decision Mandating Installation of Smoke Detectors in Nursing Homes; Calls for Further Action to Expand Protection
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The reason for the disaster?the homes were exempt from having to install sprinkler or fire alarm systems.That's why a
leading seniors' safety advocate
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An Insight Into Stammering
Stammering is a condition that affects around one in every hundred people in the UK. According to the latest reports on average three quarters of people who have a stammer are male. This article looks into the affects that stammering can have on a persons life and about possible solutions which can help people to achieve fluency.
In truth, I believe it is very hard for a fluent person to fully understand just how difficult life can be for people who stammer. They can of course imagine what it could be like but only a fellow sufferer or former sufferer can really know.
Using the telephone is one of the most difficult of daily tasks facing the stammerer, to such an extent many of them do whatever they can to avoid using it. Tasks which the average fluent person would consider very easy, like ordering a pizza can be very hard for people who stammer.
Answering the phone is no easier however the ever rising use of mobile phones has helped as they can now...
An Insight Into Stammering
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How To Walk In High Heel Womens Dress Shoes Five Risky Ways People Choose Nursing Homes Nursing courses shoes
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From the Villages of India to the Suburbs of America - the Book that Can Help Millions to Read
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Five Risky Ways People Choose Nursing Homes Nursing courses From the Villages of India to the Suburbs of America - the Book that Can Help Millions to Read speakers